__________________The universe is the practical joke of the General at the expense of the Particular, quoth Frater Perdurabo, and laughed. The disciples nearest him wept, seeing the Universal Sorrow. Others laughed, seeing the Universal Joke. Others wept. Others laughed. Others wept because they couldn't see the Joke, and others laughed lest they should be thought not to see the Joke. But though FRATER laughed openly, he wept secretly; and really he neither laughed nor wept. Nor did he mean what he said.

I don't see the big deal about the 160 million dollars. The Yankees took on more than that just for Rodriguez. Toronto got multiple all star caliber players signed to multiple years, it's not like they got a bunch of broken down junk.

And he can't take his dogs. I'm a huge dog person, and moving without them would be almost like moving without my kids. If I had his money, I'd probably retire before I'd report.

Players sometimes refuse to report after being traded, but it's very rare. The Dodgers traded Jackie Robinson to the Giants, and Robinson decided he would rather retire than play for the Giants. Curt Flood refused to report to the Phillies and sued baseball. The White Sox traded Dick Allen to the Braves for a player to be named later. Allen didn't want to play for the Braves (Chicago media at one point reported that Allen actually could end up the player to be named later), and the Braves swinged a deal with the Phillies. The story goes that Ed Farmer, early in his career, was involved in a three-way deal that sent him to the Yankees and pretty much said he wasn't going to play for the Yankees. Two days after the trade, his contract was sold to the Phillies. Farmer certainly would have refused to play for the Blue Jays, judging from his views on Canada that he has shared during Sox games.

I was surprised to see Buehrle didn't have a no-trade clause in his contract, considering he or his agent or both worked out language in his last White Sox contract that would have made him impossible to trade. And if he didn't have a no-trade clause, I would have expected some sort trade-impediment clause similar to what he had with the Sox.

The money was important enough to the Buehrle family that they agreed to go to Miami. It's easy for fans to see this as a consequence and perhaps even gloat over his situation.

Maybe the Blue Jays will work out a deal with the Cardinals. The problem is that the Blue Jays really don't have any incentive to pick up a portion of Buehrle's contract.

I was surprised to see Buehrle didn't have a no-trade clause in his contract, considering he or his agent or both worked out language in his last White Sox contract that would have made him impossible to trade. And if he didn't have a no-trade clause, I would have expected some sort trade-impediment clause similar to what he had with the Sox.

This is why they paid him an insane amount of money. It is in lieu of a NTC. The White Sox could not do the same thing because he had 5/10 rights with us.